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Cake Love: L.A. & Kwame

Now that the Kwame Brown Era has officially come to an end in Los Angeles, I thought that I should ask Lakers Coach Phil Jackson what this latest trade to Memphis says about the former Washington Wizards No. 1 pick. Surprisingly, Jackson didn't kill him.

"The reality is, Kwame has a game," Jackson said yesterday. "We're going to miss part of the game he gave to us, which was keeping people away from the basket, knocking people around with his big body. The things he could do when he could run well."

Jackson is known for his brutal honesty and the 2 Â½ year experiment with Brown was filled with the Hall of Fame Coach's classically crass comments about him.

Two months into his Lakers tenure, Jackson questioned Brown's toughness and his inability to recover from a strained right hamstring. "I'm not putting pressure other than just call him (a sissy) every time I see him in the locker room," Jackson said. Jackson accented his accessment by making cat-like "meow" sounds as Brown walked past him. Later, Jackson walked into the locker room, pointed to a brown mink coat stashed on top of the coat rack and started laughing hysterically. "See that's Kwame's," he said.

After a triple-overtime loss to the Charlotte Bobcats in December of last season - in which Kobe Bryant scored 58 points - Jackson put the blame on Brown, who had three turnovers down the stretch. "We're going to feed him Butterfingers on the flight home just so he can feel the effects of it."

A few months later, when the Lakers visited Washington, Jackson skipped the morning shootaround and took his team on a tour of the monuments. He didn't waste the opportunity to take another dig at Brown. "I think we had other guys who'd never seen them, like Kwame Brown," Jackson said. "I hear he came here but I don't think he ever did that."

Yesterday, Jackson basically blamed most of Brown's struggles on injuries that have robbed him of his explosiveness and quickness. Then, he added, "Kwame still has an upside that people haven't seen. He's going to get better opportunities than he did here."

That might be news to Memphis General Manager Chris Wallace, who explained his reasoning for making the Pau Gasol deal by stating, "Brown was the largest expiring contact we could find." Ouch. He didn't even waste any time trying to make anyone believe that the Grizzlies expected anything from Brown, who might not be around long enough to get booed out of Memphis, like he did in Washington and Los Angeles.

"He had as bad an outing as I've ever seen a player have," Jackson said of Brown's seven turnover, boo-sparking performance in a nationally televised game against Phoenix almost two weeks ago. "It was embarrassing for him, but his teammates supported him. His teammates really loved him."

We love ya, Kwame. But see that guy back there? The one with the ball? Yeah, we need him to win, man. You gotta go. (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

Brown's teammates really enjoyed having him around, since he was often the life of the party. Everybody in D.C. knows how much Brown loved to have a good time. Even through he struggled on the court, he always found an escape; usually managed to keep a smile. Forward Lamar Odom said losing Brown, was "like losing a brother."

"All these guys, you start off not knowing them, then you get to be close as brothers. Of course, that hurt," Odom said. "For the most part, you lose a friend and a brother to gain a friend and a brother. You hate to see a friend go, but you make a new friend. Basketball wise, you have to move on. It's part of our business."

When Mitch Kupchak addressed the media after acquiring Gasol, he said the players were happy but upset to see their teammates leave. "But I also know that they want to win games and I think this will help us win games," Kupchak said.

Ronny Turiaf was one of Brown's best friends on the team. When I asked Turiaf to give me his favorite Brown memories, he mentioned Brown's dunk over Chicago's Andres Nocioni and of-course, Brown's most endearing Laker legacy - as the cake chucker.

"The cake was hilarious," Turiaf said, laughing. "It was very, very, very silly."

Kwame wins. Hands down.

If you don't recall. Brown had gone out to celebrate Turiaf's birthday at an L.A. night spot, when a man carrying a $190 cake approached Turiaf for a picture. Thinking that the cake was a gift for Turiaf, Brown grabbed the cake from the fan and tossed it at Turiaf's face. He missed. "Actually, he got me in the back of my head. I had to wash my hair a little bit," Turiaf said with a laugh.

Jackson's initial reaction to the incident was equally hilarious. He said it was "natural" that the cake slipped from Brown's hands. The saddest part of the Brown trade might be the end of Jackson's one-liners.

Comments

This was a great article by Ivan today. In it, he subtlely slaps Les BouleS in the face by pointing out how a team like the Lakers is concerned about winning championships, while Les BouleS, content with limping along with 9 players most of the season, isn't.

This was a great article by Ivan today. In it, he subtlely slaps Les BouleS in the face by pointing out how a team like the Lakers is concerned about winning championships, while Les BouleS, content with limping along with 9 players most of the season, isn't.

Although, it's vintage Jackson to rebut his own past criticism with credit to a departing player.

We all know that the Zen Master couldn't be happier to have Hoe Cake Brown off his team.

I wonder if Phil ever teased Tiny Hands about getting slapped by MJ.

Better yet, I wonder if Kwame made "meow" noises while Phil was sitting in that gigantic chair on the sideline.

Posted by: TruthAboutIt.net | February 4, 2008 12:33 PM

I still have a tad bit of sympathy for Kwame. Granted, he's a bust of a basketball player, but the amount of personal crap he takes from people seems a bit much. Assuming they don't buy him out (a very real possibility), getting traded to Memphis may actually be the best thing that could happen to him. He'll be in a situation where he can play without the burden of expectations. Maybe he'll be able to find some kind of comfort zone.

Posted by: kalorama | February 4, 2008 12:36 PM

And yea DC Man 88...I'm sure you of all people could see Ivan's sentence at the end of his blurb about the Gasol deal as a shot at the Wizards ownership.

But to me, he was just stating a fact....which, in the eyes of the fans, reflects poorly on the commitment of the ownership.

Then again, at times, fiscal common sense in the present can benefit the franchise, and thus the fans, in the future.

Which case is it? I really can't say.

Posted by: TruthAboutIt.net | February 4, 2008 12:39 PM

What Kwame needs is to sign a contract that reflects his play, not his potential. Fans turn on guys when they don't live up to their contracts. With all that Kwame brings to the table defensively, no one's going to turn on him if he makes $3 million a year.

Posted by: Anonymous | February 4, 2008 1:10 PM

Agree, when his contract expires, Kwame Brown's next gig will probably go down to $3M/yr. At that price he will be a bargain, and will have a few teams interested. His stats are comparable to many league centers, though not to power forwards.

Posted by: rgz | February 4, 2008 1:26 PM

Hey, Kwame will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this year.

If the Wizards sign him, that means that we will have gotten Caron Butler from Los Angeles for FREE !!!

Posted by: Rook | February 4, 2008 1:30 PM

I still remember Kwame's prediction when he finally left the Wiz - he was going to be a "beast" and make the Wiz regret ever letting him go. Yeah, how did that work out for you Kwame???

BTW, you are still an idiot - DC Moron.

Posted by: Wizzz | February 4, 2008 1:33 PM

Kwame still may develop into an asset for Memphis or some other NBA team, it's not just Jackson that sees an upside in Kwame's game, he received a backhanded compliment when he was recently voted the player who got the least out of the most talent by his fellow NBA players.
Tangentially, when all are healthy how are the Lakers going to field their big men, Bynum, Odom and Gasol? Do they sit Walton and put Gasol at small forward?

Posted by: Myshkin | February 4, 2008 1:38 PM

Great blog entry today Ivan.

Posted by: Wizzy | February 4, 2008 1:39 PM

"And yea DC Man 88...I'm sure you of all people could see Ivan's sentence at the end of his blurb about the Gasol deal as a shot at the Wizards ownership.

But to me, he was just stating a fact....which, in the eyes of the fans, reflects poorly on the commitment of the ownership.

Then again, at times, fiscal common sense in the present can benefit the franchise, and thus the fans, in the future.

Which case is it? I really can't say.

Posted by: TruthAboutIt.net | February 4, 2008 12:39 PM "

Yes, I've stated that fact many times on this blog. You have your contenders and your pretenders...you have your perennial playoff losers, and your championship winners.

Posted by: DC Man88 | February 4, 2008 2:29 PM

I always wonder how Kwame would have been if he had spent a few years in college. He would have received the training in fundementals of basketball from a good college coach that he didn't get in the NBA. He would have been around players his own age. He would have gained confidence by dominating in a college setting. I think that Michael Jordan and Doug Collins did him a tremendous be drafting him right out of highschool. Everyone isn't Kobe or James.

Posted by: browneri | February 4, 2008 2:54 PM

I always wonder how Kwame would have been if he had spent a few years in college. He would have received the training in fundementals of basketball from a good college coach that he didn't get in the NBA. He would have been around players his own age. He would have gained confidence by dominating in a college setting. I think that Michael Jordan and Doug Collins did him a tremendous disservice by drafting him right out of highschool. Everyone isn't Kobe or James

Posted by: Browneri | February 4, 2008 2:56 PM

DC Maniac - Yeah, but the Wizards aren't perennial playoff losers by any stretch of the imagination. Until a few years ago, they were consistently one of the worst franchises in pro sports and got nowhere close to the playoffs. And now you expectthem to already be at the top and pulling off megadeal after megadeal. Fans like you are the worst. You don't know what goes on in the front office. You make assumptions based seemingly on whatever irrational anger it is that leads a nitwit like you to need to p*ss all over these blogs. I try my damnedest to ignore you and the fact that almost everything you say is either stupid or just plain wrong. Anyway, F you. I wish you nothing but misery and loneliness. You're a jerk.

Posted by: Irene Pollin | February 4, 2008 3:05 PM

In terms of the amount of attention he's going to get, playing in Memphis might as well be the D-League considering where he's coming from. I always felt like Kwame just needed to go someplace where he could just play and not live up to anything. Of course, it doesn't help that he'll be expected to help fill the void left by an all-star. But Memphis stunk with Gasol, so its not like Kwame can hurt them any worse. I'm still pulling for the guy. Although Memphis might buy him out. Which raises the question: when Kwame becomes a unrestricted FA, will he even WANT to sign with anyone?

Posted by: Aaron | February 4, 2008 3:07 PM

I always wonder how Kwame would have been if he had spent a few years in college.

I actually don't think it would have mattered. Kwame's problem, IMO, was never coaching. It was always heart -- something he doesn't have. No desire, no passion, no spirit. No coach was going to imbue him with that. He got paid -- that's what he wanted. He just doesn't care. He's a dog, and goes to the bottom-feeding Grizzlies, where he belongs -- at least until next year, when some team signs him to a contract for more than he's worth (which is about $2.00 per season), thinking they can be the ones to bring out the "Beast" in him.

The man has no "Beast" to bring out. He should be an accountant.

Posted by: Keithinator | February 4, 2008 3:13 PM

I think he'll sign somewhere, Aaron. He's still got something to prove. (Whether he's actually capable of proving it, however, is an open question.)

I think the might actually fit in pretty well on the Suns or Spurs, where he'd be expected to play to his strengths (physical defense and rebounding) with no expectations on offensive, and free Amare or Duncan from having to collect fouls banging with the other teams best post guy.

Posted by: kalorama | February 4, 2008 3:16 PM

Kwame is who he is. We need to look at Michael Jordan for drafting him in the number 1 position. Kwame is a good bench player that will give you rebounds and nothing more.

Posted by: Kareem | February 4, 2008 3:27 PM

Trex brown will be missed in LA... No not really. Funny article though.

Posted by: Steve J | February 4, 2008 3:35 PM

Kwame didnt make himself the #1 pick, but he'd still be a bust as a lottery pick thus far in his career. Not too many people criticized MJ for drafting him. The 2001 draft was one of the worst of all time.

Having said that, he still has a chance to salvage a decent NBA career. He has the size and athletic ability.

Posted by: JSchon | February 4, 2008 3:36 PM

Although Kwame is considered a bust for a #1 overall pick, there is someone much, much worse: Michael Olowokandi.

After 4 years of college ball, he was drafted #1 overall in 1998 and proceeded to have an undistinguished career, averaging 9 pts while being a locker room cancer and a lazy bum. His career was also marred by various off-court incidents. After getting traded by the Wolves to the Celts (who eventually waived him), he's now a free agent, waiting for the phone to ring which, understandably, is silent.

Granted Kwame had hands of stone and didn't have any offense, he wasn't soft, played decent D and was at least liked by his Laker teammates.

So between these two, Kwame still comes out ahead.

Olowokandi is hands down the worst #1 overall pick, ever.

Posted by: ecat124 | February 4, 2008 4:09 PM

Who says Kwame is useless? He brought Wizards Butler, and Lakers Gasol!

Posted by: Sagaliba | February 4, 2008 4:45 PM

Although Kwame is considered a bust for a #1 overall pick, there is someone much, much worse: Michael Olowokandi.

Posted by: ecat124
-----------------------------------------

Not true. Olowokandi averaged 11 pts 9 rebounds in 01-02 and 12-9 in 02-03. Brown averaged double digits only once (10.9), and has never averaged more than 7 rebounds!

Posted by: Sagaliba | February 4, 2008 4:51 PM

I've always thought the Kandi Man was the bigger bust, simply because he clearly had so much more ability and skill than Kwame. He came in as a ready-made player who should have become near-dominant but, time and again, underperformed because he just couldn't seem to be bothered to improve.

Posted by: kalorama | February 4, 2008 4:56 PM

Sorry, click "Submit" too fast!

Olowokandi's first 7 yrs is better than Kwame's; he played 10 yrs total. Kwame is in his 7th years. So far Olowokandi is still ahead (not by much though).

Posted by: Sagaliba | February 4, 2008 4:56 PM

And the numbers, as usual, don't really tell the whole story. Kandi put up OK offensive numbers (that were well short off what his talent should have produced) on bad teams. That's not much of a feat, really. Kwame was never going to be a big time scorer, his thing was rebounding and defense. When healthy, he was pretty impactful for the Lakers on that front. But he was never healthy for very long.

Posted by: kalorama | February 4, 2008 5:07 PM

"DC Maniac - Yeah, but the Wizards aren't perennial playoff losers by any stretch of the imagination. Until a few years ago, they were consistently one of the worst franchises in pro sports and got nowhere close to the playoffs. And now you expectthem to already be at the top and pulling off megadeal after megadeal. Fans like you are the worst. You don't know what goes on in the front office. You make assumptions based seemingly on whatever irrational anger it is that leads a nitwit like you to need to p*ss all over these blogs. I try my damnedest to ignore you and the fact that almost everything you say is either stupid or just plain wrong. Anyway, F you. I wish you nothing but misery and loneliness. You're a jerk."

Irene, don't you have to go take care of Abe?

Les BouleS are perennial playoffs losers, and it showed last season, and the season before that. Better to be in the lottery and try to turn something around rather than be a perennial loser with huge contracts and soon to be even worse with Gilby and AJ if they are resiged.

So, go F#ck yourself too, and use an object if you have to.

Posted by: DC Man88 | February 4, 2008 5:31 PM

i live in cali and kwame was GARBAGE. he cant:catch, shoot, dribble, play defense, think on a court. kwame has NO heart or desire to improve, bynum got better quick but kwame has remained stagnant. i dont know why we traded butler for him, and i dont know how we got pau for him. as a coach i know stated, "i would've traded kwame for a can of beans.", enough said

Posted by: kevin | February 4, 2008 8:35 PM

Yes, Kwame is a decent guy, but lacks heart and hustle. When you see a shot go up in the air, you'll never see him fight for position. Also, he seriously needs to lose weight to increase his quickness, agility, and hops. Kwame is just a big guy who happens to play basketball, while Bynum does have the talent and seemingly has the motivation to do well.

Of course though, Bynum learned under one of the greatest teachers in the NBA, Phil Jackson, while Kwame did a 180 while under the tutelage of one of the worst, Doug Collins (with MJ's authority). Even MJ got rid of Dougie when Dougie was the Bulls coach.

Posted by: DC Man88 | February 4, 2008 8:53 PM

I think everyboby should lay off of Kwame. He is doing the best he can being hurt most of the time. Until you all are ready to walk in his shoes all negetive comments should just stop.We dont know all that is on his mind. All these negetive comments are not helping him build his confidents. "As a man think it,so is he."Build a man up not tare him down. God bless you all and you to Kwame good look on your New Team.

Posted by: T. Clay | February 4, 2008 10:08 PM

i always tought that he sucks but when i played video games i always made him the star. i give him credit that he trys.i hope one day he will turn into the star that he was in high school. i wish him the best luck.

Posted by: Derek McCann | February 4, 2008 11:33 PM

I agree with Phil Jackson,Kwames best is yet to come. He should be one of the best players hand down next year,unfortunately it will be in the D leauge....

Posted by: JasoninLA | February 4, 2008 11:39 PM

Kinda sucked to see Kwame go.. when healthy, he was one of the better D-fender in the league.. but now he's crippled, still not recovered from ankle injury so his mobility is shot.. doesn't quite bold well when his game is mainly defense.. how good would some of the other centers in the league do if they had a bad ankle, such as ben wallace?

Posted by: Anonymous | February 5, 2008 12:25 AM

iam laker fan give
kwame a breack

Posted by: aahh0022 | February 5, 2008 1:10 AM

yeah, give kwame a break, specially if your a laker fan like me, he got us gasol didn't he? After all, I think it's enough punishment that so many people thinks he's the biggest bust of a no.1 draft pick. He must be embarassed as hell.

Posted by: rumblefish | February 5, 2008 2:20 AM

kwame is unbeliavable

Posted by: Mooshak | February 5, 2008 3:24 AM

kwame was indeed a beloved laker but yea, i do believe that there comes a time that people need to move on and so does a team as extravagant as LA... i wish Kwame all the best in memphis and like what they say, sometimes, you have to be traded to be inspired to improve your game... keep the faith Kwame, we know u'll rock memphis soon enough... welcome Pau! time to take it to Boston! Boston? ha! No depth there!!!! after the big 3, what or who else?... NO ONE!!!!

Posted by: sparkee_PI | February 5, 2008 7:09 AM

Ok, big Laker fan... Yes, Im excited about the future...its been a little rough here as of late, with guys dropping like flies...that being said, I wish Kwame the best. I think he would be great for a team coming off the bench playing limited minutes. It was so sad watching the booos, I literally had to change the channel. We have such high expectations here in L.A., we tend to flip out from time to time. Haha.
In closing "how ya like us now suns"?

Posted by: Skinnie | February 5, 2008 7:52 AM

Looks like you know about Kwame's injuries, but not Olowokandi's. Olowokandi had two major surgeries on the same knee in '03 and '04, and was never able to recover fully health-wise (he cannot even bend his knee like normal people any more). Prior to injury, he averaged 10 pts, 8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks.

Kwame, OTOH, averaged 8 pts, 6 rebounds and 0.8 blocks (his best season is 11/7/0.7). So, if Kwame's specialty is in "defense and rebounding," how come he got less rebounds and far less block shots? Unless, you want to argue that Kwame's contributions are all "intangibles."

Posted by: Sagaliba | February 5, 2008 10:37 AM

I'm with DC Man.

At worst, Abe's cheapness cost the Wiz several victories this year.

At best, his cheapness strained and tired an already small roster.

You are a complete fool if you don't see that.

Posted by: Gregors | February 5, 2008 10:39 AM

For their overall careers, Kandi averaged 1 rebound per game more than Kwame. Huge difference there, huh? If you exclude the last two years of Kandi's career, in which he rarely played, the difference overall is 2 rpg, but then he also averaged more mpg in those seasons than Kwame has. On a per minute basis, their rebounding differential was a whopping .04. Yeah, Kandi dominated.

Like steals, blocked shots are not inherently a sign of good defense, nor is the absence of them a sign of bad defense. Charles Oakley and Dennis Rodman are widely regarded as two of the best interior defenders in the history of the game and neither was a particularly good shotblocker. Anyone who's ever seen both of them play knows that, for all his many failings on court, Brown is easily a better defensive player than Kandi ever was (damning with faint praise, I know).

Once again, numbers rarely tell the whole story.

Posted by: kalorama | February 5, 2008 11:50 AM

Other than numbers? Hmm, I guess Kwame is a locker room leader, workaholic in practice, and knows where to stand in defense, what a best-kept secret!

All numbers are useless, only your subjective feeling matters, as always!

Posted by: Sagaliba | February 5, 2008 3:46 PM

I was at a sushi bar having lunch with a beautiful lady when the news of the Kwame-Pau trade came across the tube. Being a life-long Laker fan, I shouted from the top of my lungs just as other patrons were quietly eating their sushi causing an immeadiate stir. A man sitting near me said "What happened?", more out of fear, seeing that I had visibly scared the hell out of him. I told him that the Lakers got Pau Gasol for Kwame "T-Rex" Brown who the night before had allowed Tashaun Prince to back up and shoot a wide-open 3 for his failure to even make an attempt to rebound a missed shot. The guy shruged his shoulders and returned to eating his sushi. It wasn't a big deal to him but is was to me. I remembered thinking after that Detroit game that I wished the Lakers would just pay him to leave the team. I was so disgusted after that shot that I went to bed at 930pm cst to angry to watch anymore basketball on league pass. He's as useless as a hog wearing a watch. Good luck Kwame!